KSU is #1 Plant Pathology Department in the U-S

The U.S. National Research Council has ranked Kansas State University’s department of plant pathology as the No. 1 plant pathology department in the nation.

The council’s most recent Ranking of Plant Sciences Graduate Schools lists the university’s plant pathology department at No. 10 nationally among 162 plant sciences departments. Kansas State University’s department is the top plant pathology department on the list. As such, it ranks ahead of plant pathology departments at Cornell University, the University of Wisconsin, the University of California-Davis and Texas A&M University.

“This prestigious ranking reflects the enormous global impact of the basic and applied research being done by an extraordinarily diverse group of talented faculty, staff and students during a period of years to increase the quantity, quality and safety of domestic and international food supplies,” said John Leslie, university distinguished professor of plant pathology and head of the department.

“As a department, we bring in three to four times as much outside grant money every year as we receive from the state in support of our operations,” Leslie said. “Certainly our success and its recognition by the National Research Council is a critical step in achieving the university’s goal of becoming a Top 50 public research university by 2025.”